King Nothing
by Miss Megz
Summary: I once ruled over hundreds of demons. I now have a kingdom of nothing; a kingdom of corpses. For now I am King Nothing. The king of people buried beneath centuries; of names time forgot. The King of Nothing
1. Kingdom of Corpses

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha but if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't be borrowing my mom's computer!

Kagome woke up confused at first. _Wasn't I just with Inuyasha?_ She wondered. _I could've sworn I jumped into the well to be with him._ Still unsure, she walked downstairs to see her family having breakfast. "Good morning dear," her mother greeted. For a moment it was all she could so to stand there. "Something wrong?" She asked. The priestess shook her head and sat down at the table.

"I'm not sure," Kagome admitted, "I could've sworn I was in the feudal era with Inuyasha."

"I thought you said the well was closed," Souta commented.

The high school graduate sat there as memories rushed back to her, "I must have dreamed it then." Tears burst from her eyes and she started crying, "I just want to see them all again!" She sobbed.

After calming down and cleaning up, Kagome decided to go for a walk in the hope that it would help her decide what she would do now. _I dreamed going back but I have to focus on the future. What am I going to do with myself?_ The priestess continued to walk with no real destination when a man ran from behind her and pulled her purse as he passed her by. Kagome frowned and gave chase to the thief. It didn't take long for her to catch him and get her purse back. _That's it! I'll become a police officer!_ The priestess returned home, happier than when she had left it. "You look happy," her grandfather commented when she walked in.

"I know what I'm going to do!" She jumped up in her excitement.

"Oh?" Her mother asked, "and what are you going to do?"

The teenager looked over at her mother and the dish she had been drying, "I'm going to become a police officer!"

Souta, who hadn't once looked away from the TV, now stared at his older sister like she was insane, "why?"

"I may not be able to go back to feudal era anymore but this world still needs saving, "Kagome answered. Her voice filled with pride. Souta shrugged and his attention returned to the idiot box in front of him.

"Not much of a surprise," her grandfather mumbled and went back to examining the "antique" in his hands.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagome demanded, hands on her hips.

"Nothing really; you told us lots of stories of how you saved humans from demons. It's not a surprise you would pick a profession that allows you to continue saving lives," her grandfather shrugged and began polishing the item in his hand.

"Am I really that predictable?" She asked.

"I think becoming a police officer is a wonderful idea," her mother answered, purposefully avoiding her daughter's question.

"Thanks mama," Kagome hugged her mother and headed up to her room to find out what she would need to achieve her goal. She paused at the stop of the stairs, "she didn't answer my question."

Kagome sped towards the convenience store that had its silent alarm activated. Someone was robbing some kid working for minimum wage over the small amount of money in the register. _I used to fight demons_ she sighed. Her partner saw the sigh but figured it was because they had to respond to this at all.

_Some crack head desperate for his fix _he mentally grumbled. _Why did we have to be the ones closest? _Both expected the perpetrator to be long gone and them to be stuck trying to get a description from a distraught teenager. What they got was the burglar flat on his stomach with another man sitting on top of him to keep him in place while he finished the sandwich he had purchased from the clerk that still stoop behind the counter with the man's money in hand. The thief lay on the ground squirming under the weight; trying desperately to free himself. The man on top of him shifted slightly before ordering the would-be thief to stop moving. "Get this nut case off of me, man," the crack head begged and started squirming again. The man on top of him pushed his head into the tiled floor.

"You were ordered to stop moving," the man reminded and finished his sandwich. Kagome and her partner, Jack, could only stare for a moment at the odd scene before them.

Jack walked over and pointed his gun at the addict on the floor, "all right, buddy, get off of him; nice and slow." Kagome had her gun ready just in case this went south. _That man looks familiar_ she thought and studied his face for clues as to how she could possibly know him. The man stood easily over six feet tall. He had ramrod straight black hair that reached hit shoulders, pale skin that almost seemed translucent, light brown eyes that could be categorized as amber, a white t-shirt barely visible underneath a red jacket, boot cut blue jeans, a pair of white nikes, and, oddly, a pair of black gloves that, while classy and expensive, didn't quite look like they fit his hands. The hand handed his empty sandwich wrapper to the clerk to throw away but the wrapper remained in his hand while the other still held the money for said sandwich. _Wouldn't be surprised if he put the wrapper in the drawer and threw the money away _Kagome mused. Another police car chose this time to come onto the scene. The thief was loaded into the backseat while Kagome tried to get a statement from the clerk while her partner attempted to get one from the man.

"The guy pointed a gun at me and ordered all the money in the till," the clerk started, "I told him the till wouldn't open without a sale when the other guy showed up wanting to pay for his sandwich. The robber took the sandwich from his hand and ordered me to scan it. The other dude got mad and grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him to face him. 'It's rude to take items that do not belong to you.' He sounded like he was lecturing a child! The other guy went to punch him but he just grabbed his fist and slammed his face into the counter! He then pulled the sandwich from the dude's hand and gave it to me. The whole tome holding the guy at bay with one hand like it wasn't evening happening! I rang his purchase in and he gave me the money and knocked the guy to the floor and sat on him and started eating the sandwich!" Kagome wrote down the story exactly as the boy told it. "Anything else? Or can I go home?" The clerk asked.

"Just your name and you can go," the officer instructed. The clerk gave his name and ran out the door. She looked over at her partner who was having a hell of a time getting the man to talk. Sighing, she walked over to see if she could get sir-chats-a-lot to at least give them his name. The man towered over them with his arms folded across his chest with an extremely irritated expression. "Look, you can't leave until we get your name and a statement," Kagome lectured but the man remained silent. She was quickly becoming irritated herself. _He reminds me of Sesshoumaru_. For a moment she could've sworn she felt a demonic aura come off of him but it was gone so fast she couldn't be sure. The man rose an eyebrow at her sudden change of expression.

"My name is Maru Takashiro," he suddenly replied, "I came here on my break to get a snack." Both officers were surprised he suddenly started talking. Kagome eventually got his side of the story out of him.

"Where do you work?" Kagome asked, pen in hand.

"I don't," Maru replied, "I am an author."

"You just said you were on a break," Kagome reminded.

"A break from my writing," he replied, "now, if that's all..."

The officer sighed and nodded, "yeah, you can go."

Maru nodded his head slightly and turned to leave, "you should be more polite, priestess." Kagome stopped and whirled around but he was already gone.

"Well, I can safely say that this is the weirdest robbery I've ever been called to," Jack commented and ran a hand through his short blond hair, "what about you?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. This was definitely a weird one," Kagome agreed, snapping from her thoughts. _How did he know 500 years ago I was a priestess?_ Jack decided not to comment in his partner's lack of attention and both headed back to the station. The rest of the day was uneventful and Kagome spent it wonder about Maru Takashiro. When she got home, she immediately researched buildings in the area of the convenience store; the only building within walking distance without any sort of vending machine was the old museum. Grabbing her jacket, the officer was on her way. "I'm wondering if a man with shoulder length black hair, gloves, and unusually tall came here today," Kagome asked the teenager behind the information desk, holding out her badge for the girl to see.

The girl studied the badge for a moment and snapped the gum in her mouth, "yeah, he comes here at least once a week. He comes around 2pm on either Monday or Wednesday like clockwork. Dunno why, this place is a dump." She gestured around her at the building in desperate need of repair; wallpaper had begun to peel, a broken window had been boarded up but not replaced, the wooden floorboards creaked terribly, and not a lot of exhibits were shown anymore because of the poor state of the showcases. Over a year ago the government had cut the museum's funding to a fraction of what it had been and the museum was forced to rely on the donations of visitors; judging by the building's state, the people of Tokyo weren't that generous. The girl snapped her gum again and blew a bubble while she stared at Kagome, waiting for inevitable question.

"What exhibits does he visit?" The former priestess asked.

The girl snorted, "the only one still around." She gestured to the showcase nearby that held a usually large boomerang, an old staff, and a scythe on a chain. "He sits in front of it in a lawn chair and starts writing in a notebook he carries. Leaves around 4pm to go get a snack and then comes back and continues to write until closing." The sound of gum snapping made Kagome look back at the information girl, "didn't come back today though. Heard there was a robbery or something at the store 'round the corner. Guess he got caught up in it."

"I'm not at liberty to disclose who was involved in what," Kagome commented, "thank you for your help." She walked towards the exhibit and read the little information plaque.

_Said to be the remnants of an ancient war. Stories say that it was a war between humans and demon but researchers are sceptical. No other evidence of said war has been discovered._

The former priestess stared at the plaque and the items behind the glass. _What happened after I left?_ She wondered and left the building, dropping a twenty into the donation box on the way out.

Sesshoumaru glared at the silver roots starting to peek through on his scalp. Grabbing the box of black hair dye, he headed to the bathroom to dye his silver roots black. _I hate that I have to do this. I used to walk with pride, not bothering to disguise myself. _He tossed the empty box aside and removed the little plastic gloves that came in the box; his claws had poked through the tips so now each claw was temporarily dyed black. "Why do I bother?" He grumbled, staring at his black claws. The dog demon sat down on his threadbare couch and read what he had written earlier before setting it aside. He pulled off the black ring on his right index finger and immediately brown eyes turned to gold and his markings returned. The former lord studied the miniature characters across the band; _all are still intact. Why did my power get through?_ Setting the ring aside, he picked up his notebook again and continued to write. Sesshoumaru wrote a few more pages before another question came to mind. _Why did I call that woman "priestess"?_ He leaned back in his couch and stared at the stained ceiling. Being at one point a demon lord, he could easily afford better than what he lived in but he simply chose not to. He had little use for luxurious and expensive items. So the gold simply remained hidden in various, undiscoverable hiding placed around Japan; waiting to be used. "I supposed things are about to get interesting."

Kagome woke up the next morning with the front of a book an inch from her face. Blinking, she pushed her head back to try and make out what the book was called when it was suddenly pulled away and replaced with the face of her best friend. "Good morning, Yumi," the officer yawned and sat up.

Yumi pulled her head back as her friend sat up, "I've found you a demon," she proclaimed proudly and held the book out again. Sometime after the well closed, Yumi figured out that Kagome's "boyfriend" was really a half demon from 500 years ago. Kagome still wasn't sure how she figured it out but wasn't entirely positive she wanted to know. She took the book from Yumi and examined it. It was fairly new, hell, if Kagome had to guess, she would say it was brand new. The letters across the top spelled out _King Nothing_ with a blood covered crown sitting on a rotting throne. The priestess felt no demonic aura from the book and stared at her friend expectantly. "The demon isn't in the book, silly. The demon _wrote_ the book," Yumi tapped the cover and pulled it open to the first page.

_I am a demon_

It was the first line of the book and again Kagome looked up. "Keep reading!" Yumi ordered.

_I am a demon. However, I am not the kind of demon you are thinking of. I do not eat the flesh or souls of humans; I have, though, lived for almost a millennium and have more than one form. I may look human but really, I am anything but. You will not find me in myths despite the fact I was once a powerful lord. I ruled over hundreds of demons and humans. I now have a kingdom of nothing; a kingdom of corpses. I once had a name but I've had so many that I'm not sure which is real anymore. For now I am King Nothing. The king of people buried beneath hundreds of years; of names time had forgotten. I write this so that even after I have moved on with a new name, a new identity, some part of me will remain to be remembered long after I have forgotten._

_ Like all great tragedies, my end had a beginning. My fall began with the birth of my younger brother. For a long time I believed our father's death was because he was born a half demon. I believed my troubles worsened because he was a half demon. My troubles worsened because of my inability to recognize humans as the true threat they always have been. For now though, my mind is on that dark, blood filled night of my brother's birth._

Kagome stopped reading and just stared at the pages. Yumi looked at her friend and impatiently waited for a response. "Well? Did I find you a demon?" She finally asked.

"Yumi," she began, still staring at the pages, "you've found me a demon." _Not just any demon either, you've found me Sesshoumaru._

Alright, I feel like I owe you all a better explanation than what I gave earlier. I am redoing King Nothing because I didn't like where it was going; and where it was going was nowhere. I have forgotten where I was taking the characters and decided that rather than leaving this story to sit in limbo for who knows how long, I would just redo it.

Remember, if you want something specific from the previous chapters in this one, please let me know. You don't need to worry either; the previous chapters will remain on my deviantart account.

.com/


	2. To be bored

Disclaimer: I don't own Sesshoumaru or Kagome or any other anime characters. So don't bother getting your panties in a bunch

Kagome studied the author's name; _King Nothing. Well, that doesn't help. _"Yumi, I need a favour," the officer looked at her best friend, "I need you to find out as much information as you can about the author."

"What? Wouldn't it be easier for YOU to do it?" Yumi asked.

"If I'm caught using my power like that I'll get fine! And that's the best case scenario!" Kagome clasped her hands together and pleaded at her best friend with puppy dog eyes.

Yumi sighed in defeat, "fine, but don't expect too much. Finding the real name behind the pen name is going to be difficult." She snatched the book from her friend and left to begin her search. Kagome watched her leave grumbling about her current task.

_I don't care that it's Sesshoumaru. It's someone from that era. No one can stay like that forever. _"Right?" She asked her pillow. Of course, the pillow offered no answers. The police officer glanced at the clock and shrieked, "I'm going to be late!" She flew from her bed to get ready.

* * *

"Cutting it close Higurashi!" Her chief scolded as she bolted through the door just in time to make sure she wasn't late.

"Hope you weren't speeding," Jack teased and nudged his partner.

Kagome scowled and kicked him in the shin, "of course not!" Jack grabbed his leg and started howling in pain. "You're a terrible actor," the former priestess stated as she watched her partner for a moment before heading to where the squad cars were.

Jack immediately let go of his leg and followed, "it wasn't THAT bad!...Was it?"

Another officer patted his shoulder consolingly, "let's just say that if you needed to act to save my life, I would be kissing my ass good-bye." The officer laughed and disappeared around a corner. As Jack was walking out, he could hear the guffaws of his coworkers.

"Wonderful," he muttered and joined Kagome in the squad car, "so, what's eating you?"

Kagome blinked and looked over at her partner, "what?"

"What's bothering you? You've been spacing out since yesterday," Jack explained.

"Oh…" She trailed off in thought, "you know anything about an author called 'King Nothing'?"

The blonde man blinked, "I've heard of him and his book but little else, why?"

"No reason, a friend of mine lent me his book earlier and it caught my attention," Kagome shrugged.

"Really? Is the book any good?" Jack asked; his partner only shrugged. "You must have some opinion on it even if you've only just started reading it!" He lectured and shook his head at his partner's strange behaviour.

"Yumi took it with her when she left. I only got to read the first couple of paragraphs," she explained.

"How could she have lent it to you if she took it with her? Sounds like she was just teasing you with it," Jack commented and leaned back in the passenger seat.

"She meant to leave it but accidentally put it back into her purse when she left," Kagome explained. She studied the world around her as she waited at a red light. Her eyes saw the tall skyscrapers that made up the city but her mind saw trees, unhindered by man, growing as they wished. Pavement and crowded streets were replaced by wide open spaces and soft green grass. _I'm sorry everyone, I wanted to come back but I guess no Shikon Jewel means no magic well/_ The light turned green and Kagome continued forward but her mind was elsewhere.

"Pull over," Jack ordered. Kagome turned to face him and dare him to try and order her again. "You're too distracted. Pull over and I'll drive. You can't have a cop getting into an accident in a squad car," he reached for the wheel but Kagome smacked his hand away. She did, however, pullover and let Jack drive. Around noon they stopped at a café for some lunch and to find out what was bothering Kagome so bad that it would affect her work. Nothing affected her work; her mother had been hospitalized after a car crash and even though she was worried, she still did a lot better than she was right now.

* * *

They were sitting in a café with pink coffee in front of them. "What kind of café has pink coffee?" Jack asked while staring at the pink liquid.

"One that's promoting the coming of Spring," Kagome answered and ate a piece of the chicken club sandwich that was warm from the microwave.

"It's safe to drink?" Right?" Her partner brought the mug to his nose and gave it a questioning whiff. The former priestess took a drink of hers and started gagging and fell to the floor. Jack raced around the table while people from other tables stood up. He stared at Kagome who stared sightless. She suddenly looked at him and blinked. Jack swore and she burst out laughing.

"The coffee's fine," Kagome pushed herself off the floor but was still laughing,

"That wasn't funny," Jack muttered and took a drink of his coffee, hoping the pink fluid would mask his pink face.

"Sure it was you're just too…" Kagome trailed off and stared past her partner. Jack finally turned around to see what she was staring at when he figured out she wasn't trying to trick him again. Entering in was the man from the convenience store. _What was his name again? Maru, right? _Jack wondered and snapped his fingers in front of the spaced out woman opposite of him. After a few tries, Kagome finally snapped and looked over at Jack again. "What?" She asked to his knowing look.

"I didn't say a word," he leaned back and held his hands in front of himself as a sign of peace. A server walked by and Jack grabbed her attention. "What's the story of the man that just walked in?" He asked; Kagome stared at him horrified.

The server shrugged, "not sure, I'm still new here but every time I work on a Tuesday he's here. Some of the others say he's here every Tuesday with a notebook and sometimes a laptop. Apparently he has a new notebook every week. I asked him once what he was writing but he didn't answer," the server glanced at the man as he sat down and pulled a black laptop from its bag and a blue notebook from one of the side pockets on the laptop bag. "I'm afraid you'll have to ask one of the others if you want to know more," the server excused herself and Jack met Kagome's glare.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"You know what!" Why did you do that?" Kagome demanded.

"You were staring at him. All I did was get some information on him for you," Jack smiled sweetly but Kagome still threw her spoon at him. "Why don't you go over and talk to him?" Jack suggested. His response was the remainder of Kagome's sandwich in his face. His partner stood up and walked back to the car. Jack just sat there for a moment before leaving money on the table. "Women," he muttered and joined Kagome outside.

_What could I say to him? 'Hi, I keep asking questions about you in your usual places. So I don't come across as any more of a stalker, how about we get together for some coffee?' _The priestess mentally fumed over her inability to reach a decision about the man; half of her wanted to go over there and talk with him and the other half wondered what she would do when she finally did come face to face with Sesshoumaru.

* * *

Sesshoumaru watched Kagome throw her sandwich at her partner and storm out. _Very unprofessional. Reminds me of that priestess that used to follow Inuyasha around; she had trouble controlling her temper too._ The disguised demon turned back to his coffee and slice of cake. Sesshoumaru gave the pink liquid an experimental sniff before deciding it was fine. _Not a lot of cafes celebrate the coming of spring by turning their coffee pink, _he mused while drinking, _most just decorate the interior. _The demon looked back at his screen and resumed typing. The keys on the keyboard were bigger and spaced further apart to accommodate his claws; most people would have had a hard time using such a strange keyboard but to Sesshoumaru, it was the only way he could use computers at all.

Eventually Sesshoumaru headed back to his apartment and plopped onto the couch. _I need to do more than write_ he mentally sighed. What could a feudal demon do? He had no ability to be humble and take orders so working was out (not that he needed the money anyway). The former demon king thought about it for a moment and remembered something he had done thirty years ago and didn't mind doing. _Martial arts. The one thing older than me._

The instructor took a long look at the dog demon that paying to enrol in his Taekwondo class. Sesshoumaru had chosen this particular school because of this instructor. The man was middle ages who had managed to become a high enough level and managed to save enough money to open his own dojo. The dog demon stood there patiently. The instructor was a stubborn man who wouldn't accept just anyone and expected hard work from his students. Not many students could handle his teaching methods but those that could were strong and respectable. The man finally accepted his money and handed him a uniform, belt, and a duffel bag with the schools crest on it. Sesshoumaru took it and headed to the men's change room. His claws would be an issue but he had purchased a pair of shoes and gloves from the store next to the dojo that sold items for the school's students. _I will have to have the fingertips and toes reinforced but they should last for one class at least._ The other men stared at him as changed, he towered over them by almost a foot; most were middle-aged men that were either facing a mid-life crisis or had gotten a lecture on their health from a doctor. There were a few younger men that looked like they were doing this to impress someone or they were forced by their parents to learn responsibility and good behaviour. The demon could feel all the men sizing him up, seeing where stood and if he was a potential threat or not. Humans were always doing that to him. He used to wonder if they did that with each other. _Humans,_ he mentally sighed and continued to get ready for class.

* * *

I finally had inspiration to continue! Sorry for not updating sooner, I couldn't even force myself to write.

On a side note, I am looking for a beta reader. So far I have used friends that have been online but would like someone who actually reads this fic and had a firm grasp of the English language. I always got good grades in English class but re-reading my work to look for typos is not something I usually can remember to do. Let me know if you're interested.


	3. Tournament

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

Kagome once more woke up to a blurry object in front of her face. Once again, it was the King Nothing novel with a post it on the cover with a name. "Maru Takashiro," her priest stated.

"What?" Kagome blinked and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She was still half asleep and couldn't remember the favor she had asked of her friend the week before. "You found his name THAT fast? How?" The former priestess asked.

"I have my ways," she smirked and wiggled her hips; Kagome was unsure if she was joking or not. "I couldn't find anything more and even finding out his name was a trial," Yumi sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. _Maru Takashiro why does that sound familiar?_ Kagome wondered, luckily, it was her day off so she would think on it. The image of an abnormally tall man with short black hair and light brown eyes popped into her head. She thought back to her first time meeting the demon in disguise and started laughing, startling Yumi. "What's so funny?" She asked.

"I should've known that was him!" She gasped and rolled off the bed laughing Yumi could only wait or her friend to camn down so she could find out what Kagome was going on about. Kagome finally calmed down and sat up on the floor. "Ready to explain?" Yumi asked with her arms folded across her chest. The look Kagome got almost made her burst out laughing again.

"I've met him. He was involved in a convenience store robbery last week," Kagome explained.

"He's a criminal?" She exclaimed.

"Not even close, he stopped the criminal from robbing the store," Kagome started giggling, "by sitting on him!" The officer burst out laughing.

"How did he do that?" Yumi asked, not expecting an answer.

"He sat on the thief!" Kagome got out before laughing too hard to talk. Yumi had to admit, that did sound funny when you pictured a demon doing it.

* * *

"How do you plan on finding him?" Yumi asked when they go into WacDonalds. Kagome but into her burger and shrugged.

"From what I know of him already, he had a routine. I just have to wait for him to go to one of the regular spots he goes to that I know of," she answered after swallowing, "I think he's making another book. Every time I've seen him, he's either had a notepad or a laptop."

"A second?" Yumi exclaimed and everyone in the building stared at her. She blushed and slunk back down into her seat, "why would he write a second? The first has a fine ending with his brother growing up."

The officer shook her head, "but that's not where it ends."

"Where does the story end?" Her friend asked.

To that question Kagome could only shrug, "I don't know."

"Hey, Kagome, what did you say he looked like?" Yumi asked suddenly.

"Tall, short black hair, light brown eyes, and is always wearing gloves, why?" Kagome answered. Yumi pointed to a poster just being put up in the window. The poster was to advertise a tournament of a martial arts school. The poster had images of various martial artists in various stages of either a kick or a punch. In front of them all was Sesshomaru; Kagome nearly dropped her fries, "well, that makes it easier to find him," she commented.

"Which part? The address or the date?" Yumi snickered.

* * *

Sesshomaru sat on the side of the mat next to the other competitors from his school. Someone from the school had suggested holding a demonstrations to raise awareness of the endangered Bonin Fruit Bat (A/N: a real endangered species in Japan) and it had somehow snowballed into a tournament to raise funds for saving the bat. The event had gotten so out of hand that companies had paid to advertise at the tournament. Since the weather was warm, it was decided to hold it at a park. It surprised the old demon just how much humans cared about saving a creature that they had almost wiped out. It was a foreign concept to demons to make nature change to suit their needs. Demons always adjusted how they lived to suit nature. Even his castle had been built with this in mind. Humans cleared land for farms. Demons lived where food was plenty. In fact, the trouble between humans and demons began when humans started clearing land and putting up villages that chased away the food of demons. Bigger trouble started when demons found out that humans were edible and a satisfactory replacement for the food they chased off to set up the villages. _And now here I sit for this circus to convince people to pay money to fix their own mistakes,_ the dog demon mentally sighed. Finally, the tournament started.

Kagome started at all the people, she had never expected this many people to show up. She knew it was to raise money for a critically endangered species but she still did expect this. Companies from all over Japan had at least one stall selling their product or giving it away in hopes that people liked it enough to buy it from a store. "All of this for a bat," she muttered and headed over to where the tournament was taking place. She had missed the introduction of the schooled but she quickly spotted Sesshomaru. It was hard to miss someone like him; despite how much effort he put in to looking human. The former priestess knew it was him and wondered why she hadn't figured it out when she first met him. Even disguised as a human he was still breath-taking. His hair almost shone silver despite the black dye and he had tied back for the tournament, now it vaguely reminded her of Miroku but Sesshomaru's ponytail was much thicker. She noticed the gloves and wondered what Sesshomaru had to do to be allowed to wear those. _The times look reinforced. He must still have his claws. I wonder how he's hiding his markings_ she mused and moved up closer when it was his turn to fight.

In the years she had been out of the feudal era, she had forgotten just how strong of a fighter Sesshomaru was. Even though they were sparring, Sesshomaru wasn't going easy. His white belt***** gave the higher ups a false sense of security, thinking that they would easily win again him. The dog demon quickly showed them why he was their opponent. The crack the white uniform****** made could be heard with every attack Sesshomaru did. The longest any opponent lasted against him was five minutes. She turned to see the master of his school collecting money from the masters of the beaten students. It didn't take long to figure out the bet.

The tournament ended but there were still a lot of people enjoying the warm weather and the company you could only get at large events. Kagome left the festivities to go find the dog demon. It didn't surprise her to see him on the very outskirts of the park sitting under a very old oak tree. He had changed out of his uniform and was in regular clothes with a black and yellow duffel bag beside him. "I thought a demon over 500 years old would know better than to smoke," she commented when she saw the cigarette in his mouth. The dog demon immediately turned to glare at her with suspicion and…alarm. _Why would he be alarmed?_ She wondered. His eyes narrowed and he stood up, doing his best to intimidate her; and it was working. "Sesshomaru, it's me, Kagome," she patted her chest and took a step back when he walked towards her, "I used to follow Inuyasha around." The ancient demon stopped in front of her and studied her. She let out an unconscious breath when she saw recognition in his eyes. Her relief was short lived; Sesshomaru huffed and exhaled the cigarette smoke in her face and returned to where his duffel bag was waiting. Kagome stood there coughing while glaring at him. "What was that for?" She commanded.

"For yelling out my real name like that and lecturing me on my habits," he informed and stubbed out the cigarette before melting the leftovers.

"Why can't I say your real name?" She asked but received no answer other than the flick of Sesshomaru's lighter. Kagome glared at him, _just as frustrating! _Letting out a frustrated sigh, she changed the question, "why do you smoke those coffin nails anyways?"

"Blocks out the stench of the city," he replied simply.

"So you're blocking out one bad smell with a worse one?" The officer gave him a funny look.

"The smoke dulled my sense of smell," he explained, "I can not smell the smoke or the stench of the city."

"Why not move somewhere else then? Like a forest or something?" She plopped down beside him.

"Too conspicuous," he answered and took a drag, "best place to hide a tree in in a forest."

_He's hiding? From what? _Kagome wondered, _what could make HIM hide? _"I get it, hide a humanoid in a city," she deduced, "why are you hiding? How can your pride tolerate it?"

"Pride had nothing to do with it," he replied but his words carried an edge to them. The harshness of his tone forced Kagome to drop the subject.

She stared at the leaved rustling in the wind as she gathered her courage. The former priestess took a breath and turned to face her demonic companion, "did you want to go get a coffee?"

The dog demon turned to her and nodded, "I would like that."

* * *

I'm sorry it took so long to update! I've had this chapter sitting in my notebook forever but forgot about it!

*** **A white belt in Tae Kwon Do means you're new and inexperienced. As you learn more, your belt level goes up (it's not quite that simple but close enough)

** A Tae Kwon Do uniform is all white (no matter what belt you are) and when the punch/kick you perform has enough strength to it, the uniform cracks; it's same sound a shirt makes when you shake it out hard enough


End file.
